No new coronavirus cases have been detected overnight, but face masks will remain mandatory indoors for some time. Health authorities also say the latest hotel quarantine outbreak isn’t yet ‘contained’.
No new cases of coronavirus were detected overnight, but it will be another week before health authorities can confirm they have successfully contained the latest hotel quarantine outbreak.
There’s no update on face masks rules or when workplace caps will increase.
Health Minister Martin Foley applauded Victorians for their vigilance on Sunday after more than 15,000 people can forward to get tested Saturday.
Mr Foley said out of an “abundance of caution”, close contacts of the hotel worker who tested positive this week had been expanded from 17 to 21 people.
All four new close contacts have tested negative, but will continue to isolate for 14 days.
Mr Foley said Victoria was now at the “halfway mark” of containing the Grand Hyatt outbreak.
“It will still take one more week before can say we have successfully seen this one off,” Mr Foley said.
“But the signs are positive.”
Mr Foley said health authorities had made their way through more than 70 per cent of the 1151 primary contacts in isolation, and so far all had returned negative results.
There are 645 close primary workplace contacts of the hotel worker.
There were also no new cases detected in hotel quarantine in the last 24 hours.
There are only 21 active cases statewide and no cases have been acquired from overseas or interstate.
Mr Foley said an extra 50,000 people came out to be tested since news of the positive hotel quarantine worker broke on Thursday.
Mr Foley said the waste water testing was being conducted daily in Melbourne, with a focus on the south and southeastern suburbs.
No unexpected detections of the virus have shown in the results.
COVID-19 commander Jeroen Weimar said it would take 14 days before authorities considered the relaxation of mask rules and restriction on gathering numbers.
Mr Weimar said it was an “encouraging start” that out of 50,000 tests conducted in the past three days, only one positive test had been returned.
From tomorrow, opening hours at testing sites will return to a 9-5pm as demands reduces.
Mr Weimar said authorities would continue to monitor data from the latest hotel outbreak daily but did not expect to make any major announcements concerning return to work or indoor mask use in the short term.
“If you go back to the Black Rock outbreak it took about 14 days,” Mr Weimar said.
“But we will, the Chief Health Officer will continue to review the conditions and restrictions on a day-to-day basis.”
Minister Foley defended the decision to allow 30,000 spectators to attend the Australian Open from tomorrow despite return to work plans being stalled as a result of the latest outbreak.
“The advice from the public health team is pretty clear.
“Events that are outdoors, events that are in highly regulated environments are able to be done safely,” Mr Foley said.
Mr Foley said he appreciated the frustrations from workplaces who had expected to have 75 per cent of workers return to the office but said this was simply a “pause” on plans.
“Employers, workforce and the wider Victorian community would know a pause is an infinitely better outcome than taking measures which might put staying safe and staying open at risk,” Mr Foley said.
DOOR LEFT OPEN FOR CCTV UPGRADE
The Andrews government has left open the door to installing more CCTV in quarantine hotels to help trace outbreaks.
Authorities have scoured vision of two hotel floors where infections recently spread between returned travellers, and between a traveller and a hotel worker, in a bid to plug holes in their defence against COVID-19.
While all corridors are patrolled by a staff member, some are not covered by cameras, leading to concerns about intelligence gaps.
A review of Victoria’s system is ongoing, but a report into a virus outbreak in a Queensland quarantine hotel will also be used to identify any necessary upgrades.
Police Minister Lisa Neville, who is in charge of hotel quarantine in Victoria, said the state was leaving no stone unturned in ensuring it had the best protection.
She said the Park Royal, where the virus was recently transmitted between guests, had cameras on every floor but the government would “absolutely” invest in more at other locations if needed.
“We’ll get advice from the public health team about what are the best things that we need to invest in,” she said.
Ms Neville also confirmed that rooms had been taken offline to buffer large families from other travellers. And experts are looking at whether face shields or different masks could help protect workers against infection.
Health Minister Martin Foley said there were no new cases of coronavirus in the community on Saturday, based on 23,227 test results received.
The fight to contain an outbreak from quarantine comes amid unrest within the state government about the commonwealth’s limited involvement in the critical system. One Minister said the Premier would be within his rights to say if the commonwealth “doesn’t step up we won’t be able to take more people”.
CHIPS STILL DOWN FOR CBD CAFES
Small businesses are urging the state government to rethink its next move to allow 75 per cent of workers to return to the office, pleading for the percentage to grow.
The increase from 50 per cent, which was slated for tomorrow but put on hold due to a hotel quarantine worker testing positive, would have seen more CBD employees visit their favourite cafes and restaurants for their coffee runs and lunch breaks.
A Franchise Council of Australia survey found food businesses are barely surviving, with rent coming in at $100,000 for some but sales down by as much as 91 per cent in Bourke Street, to name just one CBD example.
Sneha Upadhya and her husband TJ Bagwade run a Collins Street SpudBAR, a franchise specialising in baked potatoes, and just want their customers to return.
The parents of one-year-old son Ari rely on the support of staff from nearby offices, including WorkSafe, Jemena and Corrs Chambers Westgarth.
